"This is about protecting an extremely valuable resource to folks in the Flathead," said Sen. Max Baucus, "and it's about fighting for what's right for our state."
And what's right for Montana, Baucus said in a prepared statement, is not Canadian development of coal mines near the northern border of Glacier National Park.
The proposal made waves throughout the Flathead and in Helena, where lawmakers worried the mines would taint Montana's cleanest waters. The mines were to be built at the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River, which forms the western boundary of Glacier Park before pouring into Flathead Lake.
Baucus was among those who opposed the mine, and personally traveled to the Canadian capitol in Ottawa, Ontario, to share his concerns. The primary complaint was that Canada would enjoy the jobs and revenue while Montana would suffer the environmental consequences.
The proposed Cabin Creek mine became the formal focus of international attention in 1984 when then-Secretary of State George Schultz and Canada's secretary of state for external affairs officially referred the project to the International Joint Commission.
Made up of representatives from both sides of the border, the IJC is charged with investigating possible problems with regard to transboundary waters.
In 1988, the IJC unanimously ruled that the Canadian mining plan should be abandoned.
"Twenty years ago, we stopped this mine in its tracks," Baucus said. "Now it's time to try to do it again."
The rerun of history was sparked when a Canadian mining company announced recently that the coal proposal has been resurrected. Cline Mining Corp.'s president and CEO Kenneth Bates has said he expects to be in full production within two to three years, pulling out 2 million tons of high-grade coal per year for the next 20 years.
Baucus said he is committed to fighting that plan.
"If they want to pursue a full-scale operation that could devastate one of our most pristine and valuable areas for recreation and wildlife," he said, "then they're asking for a fight."
The first salvo in that fight was fired Friday, when Baucus shot a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, urging the secretary to review the 1988 IJC report. That report concluded that mining pollution would spill south of the border, violating an international treaty stating that waterways "shall not be polluted on either side (of the international border) to the injury of health or property on the other."
In his letter to Powell, Baucus argues that the Flathead River system is the "backbone of the economy of northwestern Montana."
The senator goes on to urge Powell to consider the 1988 ruling as pertinent to the latest proposal, because "there is no indication that the mine's likely impacts on Montana water quality identified by the IJC's 1988 report have been addressed by the Cline Mining Co. or its partner," Japanese conglomerate Matsui Matsushima.
Baucus goes on to ask Powell to evaluate whether the 1988 decision applies to the current coal mine proposal. He also asked the secretary for any information the Canadian government may have supplied indicating that the previous IJC pollution concerns have since been addressed and mitigated.
"I hope you agree that such a demonstration by the Canadian government is essential before this mine is allowed to go forward," Baucus wrote.
Baucus also noted in his letter that the British Columbia government plans to grant coal bed methane leases in the same area, a proposal that comes with water quality concerns that overshadow even those associated with coal strip mining.
The senator stopped short of asking Powell to make an official referral to the IJC regarding the coal bed methane project, but did write that, "I believe that the cumulative water quality impacts of both coal bed methane development and the proposed Cabin Creek coal mine should be considered relative to requirements of the Treaty prior to any actual on-ground disturbance."
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